The American official who sniped at his Israeli counterparts that the Western Wall, the holiest place for Jews to pray, is not part of Israel and not Israel’s responsibility was named Tuesday in a TV report as David Berns, the political counselor at the US Consulate in Jerusalem.

Israel wants the White House to explain why a US diplomat preparing President Donald Trump’s visit to Jerusalem said Judaism’s Holy Western Wall in the east side of the city is part of the occupied West Bank, an Israeli official said on Monday.

Palestinian officials are promoting the indispensability of the PA’s strategic partnership with the U.S. and suggesting that if the Authority loses control and the two-state solution disappears from the diplomatic lexicon, the consequences for the region would be grave.

Palestinian prisoners

A group of Palestinian activists blocked off commuter roads leading to Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank for the second consecutive day on Monday morning, in an act of protest demanding more solidarity actions to support hunger-striking prisoners at both official and popular levels.

As the mass “Freedom and Dignity” hunger strike in Israeli prisons entered its 30th day on Tuesday, the Palestinian Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs announced that leader of the strike Marwan Barghouthi will stop drinking water in response to Israel’s continued refusal to respond to the hunger strikers’ demands.

Unfortunately for Dr. Samir Masri, a resident of East Jerusalem, his son Omar was born prematurely during a family trip to the United States. Because his wife is a native of the West Bank who is in the midst of the “family unification” procedure, their baby had no legal status in Israel when they returned.

FIFA’s statues are very clear. No team from any federation is allowed to play in a pitch located in another federation without the approval of that federation. The dispute, however, arose as to the jurisdiction of the Palestinian federation in which the settlement clubs are based.

Israeli politics

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government could fall over his three criminal investigations, Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett indicated in an interview Monday night with the new public broadcasting corporation Kan.

US President Donald Trump would like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assistance in tabling the issue of moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem, but Netanyahu fears the reaction of his right-wing coalition partners.

Palestinian politics

“From the outset, the Palestinian Authority (PA) security establishment has failed to protect Palestinians from the main source of their insecurity: The Israeli military occupation,” writes Alaa Tartir.

Speaking before a packed crowd on Monday afternoon at the National Press Club, Husam Zomlot, the PLO’s Chief Representative to the U.S., called out the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) and blamed them for the stalled peace process.

Following his first meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced his intention to take unprecedented measures against Hamas, raising questions about the timing of such threats.